Addressing The U.s. Opioid Epidemic

Over the last 20 years, the misuse and abuse of opioids and other prescription painkillers have become a huge problem in the United States. Since the late 1990s, the number of cases of misuse and deaths related to these drugs has skyrocketed across the nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “66% [of drug overdoses] are opioid-related.” It's clear that pharmaceutical companies and many healthcare professionals are not fully understanding the risks tied to this common method of pain management. However, I've dug deep into this topic to develop a solid understanding, so I can hopefully argue for specific actions that our nation’s healthcare professionals should take to fix this critical issue. The sources I’ve chosen are written by highly qualified people and organizations, offering credible data and statistics to back up my claims in Paper 3.

America's Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse

In the first article, “America's Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse” by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), I found lots of useful info and data on my topic. The author starts by explaining how the crisis started, blaming pharmaceutical companies as the main culprits, and saying the rest of the medical community is just making it worse. This source gives strong evidence that these parties are at fault and should be responsible for fixing it. The piece also outlines what the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is doing to try to control the epidemic, though it doesn’t say how effective these methods are. But, by using this list along with my other research sources, I can figure out the best courses of action. One big reason I found this source effective is because it’s run by a national organization dedicated to informing readers about drug abuse and prevention. Updated in February of this year, the info in this article is relevant and up-to-date. Plus, there are many links in the article that lead to other scholarly sources. Exploring these will help me further expand my understanding and ensure a strong and credible argument.

Opioid Crisis

My next source is also from a super credible and well-known national organization. “Opioid Crisis,” an article by the CDC, has several related pages explaining different aspects of my topic. The first of these, titled “Understanding the Epidemic,” provides a lot of stats and facts about both the causes and severity of the problem. There's a wealth of relevant data on opioid prescriptions, as well as overdose and addiction. I’ll reference this page, along with one full of charts and analysis, to make sure my proposal makes sense to readers. One way this site helps me is by allowing me to make logical and strong correlations to support my claims.

• Another useful section from the CDC lists overdose prevention tactics.
• By clicking on any of these, the site provides detailed info on each prevention method.
• I’ll use this information to build my own proposal to generate solutions supported by expert reviews.

The Opioid Crisis in the United States: Chronic Pain Physicians Are the Answer, Not the Cause

My third source is an article by Raeford E. Brown JR (MD) and Paul Sloan (MD), published by the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS). Its title, “The Opioid Crisis in the United States: Chronic Pain Physicians Are the Answer, Not the Cause,” shows one reason I found it useful. The authors don’t blame physicians but instead discuss societal issues as the real factors causing this epidemic. By providing data on potential causes like mental illness, societal pressure, and the increase in illicit drugs crossing the border into the U.S., this source pushes me to explore a completely different viewpoint. Different causes need different solutions, and this article encouraged me to expand my research and knowledge on my topic. Another beneficial aspect of this article is its focus on how other countries are handling the same problem. This helps me generate new and innovative ideas for possible solutions not mentioned in my previous research.

However, this source has weaknesses that will require me to take further steps to verify the information given. Since all members of IARS are healthcare professionals, and both authors are doctors, their statements might be biased. Though, in another sense, being run by experts in the field ensures the article is at least well-informed.

The U.S. Opioid Crisis: How Can We Remedy

My last source, published on Forbes.com, is another useful article that provides new, interesting ideas and information that I’ll definitely find helpful in writing my proposal. Titled “The U.S. Opioid Crisis: How Can We Remedy,” this piece is written by Walker Ray, MD, and Tim Norbeck, both with extensive knowledge on the situation at hand. It summarizes the problem and focuses on why and how the medical community should try to reverse the opioid crisis. The authors are highly qualified, each with over 40 years of honorable experience in the medical field. Making for an even more credible source, Dr. Ray is a member of the board of Physicians Foundations, which ensures his proposed solutions are not only practical but also likely effective. This article also offers steps the public can take to combat the problem, not just healthcare professionals. This will allow me to propose an argument that applies to everyone, not just a select few. It will also provide me with as many potential solutions as possible to reference during my research.

These four sources provide a wealth of useful information that I'll use to develop a strong proposal regarding the opioid addiction crisis in the United States. The first articles, published by the NIDA and the CDC, offer detailed stats and data that clearly show the severity of the issue, making it clear that something must be done to solve it. The first three sources also give background info on how this problem started, which is very useful for figuring out how to prevent and reverse its tragic effects. Each article offers logical and potentially effective ways to solve the opioid crisis, allowing me to suggest the best possible actions. Each of my sources is written by highly qualified authors and published by respected organizations. However, the articles from Forbes.com and IARS are written by doctors, so claims made in these will need further research to ensure they are not written solely in their best interest. Overall, the ideas presented by all four sources are well-supported, and the information and data provided come from credible sources. I'll use this information gathered during my research to build a strong proposal stating what the nation’s healthcare professionals should do to solve the harmful and growing opioid epidemic.